Day 2 was spent at the National Museum. I learned a lot about the history of Cambodia and took some fun pictures in traditional Khmer attire. The school children visiting seemed to get a kick out me in my outfits! It was fun. I am learning about Buddahism as it is one the major religions here. I participated in a traditional prayer to the Buddah and had a little prayer of my own. That I shall keep to myself ;) In the museum I also found a traditional cure for gonorrhea- got a pic of course!
After the museum we went to a great restaurant called Friends. It is run by an NGO (non government agency) that does outreach to street kids. The restaurant helps the kids learn the vocational skills of hospitality services and the kids are the service staff. It is a great program! And the food was really good too! After lunch we visited a shop run by the Friends organization. All proceeds go to the program. I picked up a few shirts and gifts for home. All the jewelry, purses, etc. are made by the kids too which is really cool. It's good to know your money goes to a useful cause.
My volunteer program is still starting up. We had a meeting with the Minister of Education to see if there were things we could work with him on. However, the tasks are too large and just not feasible for us as most of us will only be here a total of 3 months. It was great to meet him and make that connection. I am constantly learning how the Khmer Rouge still affects life today in Cambodia. For example, they destroyed all of the books, literature, etc. that is the basis of education. Therefore everything had to be started anew after the Rouge was pushed out. It reminds me of a book I read in high school where people were so afraid of the educated that all books were destroyed. I cannot recall the name- something to do with The Phoenix I think. Another full day of learning! I love it!
No comments:
Post a Comment